SPORTS
Men’s Basketball Earns NIT Bid; Faces NC State in Opening Round
Infographic created by Davidson Sports Information.
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson has earned an invite to the Postseason NIT, where it will take on NC State in the opening round Thursday at 7 p.m. inside UNT Coliseum on the campus of North Texas. The game will be televised by ESPN.
The winner of the Wildcats’ opening round matchup will advance to face the victor of top-seeded Colorado State and Buffalo on March 25.
Davidson and NC State have met 85 times on the hardwood, including Dec. 6, 2008, a game the Wildcats won at Time Warner Cable Arena, 72-67, behind 44 points from Stephen Curry.
The ‘Cats, who sit at 13-8 overall, will be making their 24th postseason appearance (14 – NCAA, 9 – NIT, 1 – CBI) in school history and 18th under head coach Bob McKillop.
About the 2021 Postseason National Invitational Tournament
The 2021 National Invitation Tournament will feature 16 teams with all games being played in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The decision to conduct the NIT in one geographic location was made with the interests of having a safe and healthy environment for all participants.
Conference USA and the University of North Texas will serve as hosts for the 83rd NIT, and specific venues for each round are being finalized. Games will be played at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas and at UNT Coliseum on the campus of North Texas in Denton, Texas. First-round games will be played Wednesday, March 17, through Saturday, March 20. Quarterfinals also will take place Thursday, March 25. The semifinals and championship will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28. 2021 also will feature a third-place game Sunday, March 28, which hasn’t been played at the NIT since 2003. All 16 games of the 2021 NIT will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
Teams and pairings for the 2021 NIT are scheduled to be released by the NIT Committee at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, March 14, on ESPNU. Because of the reduced field size, all 16 teams will be selected as at-large participants, and there will be no automatic qualifiers for the NIT.
The NIT, which began in 1938, is the nation’s oldest postseason tournament. In 2019, Texas won the NIT title. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.